The Edmonton Eskimos don't always replace reigning CFL defensive player of the year J.C. Sherritt at middle linebacker, but when they do, they prefer Rennie Curran.

Sound familiar?

That's because despite making just the first start of his rookie CFL season last Sunday in Toronto, the Eskimos' Curran is already being touted as the most interesting man in the league.

Even the condensed version sounds hard to believe.

By now, you've heard how the great grandson of a Liberian tribal chief grew up in the United States after his parents fled their civil war-torn country. With ties to royal bloodlines coursing through his veins, Curran grew up in Georgia where he was equally as comfortable making tackles in football pads as he was wearing a tuxedo and playing in an orchestra.

He did both until he was 16. And he did them well.

But football took priority, and he made his mark with 298 tackles over the course of his all-American collegiate career with the Georgia Bulldogs before being picked up in the third round of the 2010 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans.

"It's been a while, the last time I was a starter was in 2009when I was at the University of Georgia," said the five-foot-11, 230-pound Curran, who found himself without a team to play for due to a coaching change following his rookie season.

So, like all sudden free agents, he trained. But Curran also spent that time writing a book aptly titled *Free Agent*, which was meant to inspire even those outside of football through tough times.

If Curran had his own commercial, it would be equally as unbelievable as The Most Interesting Man in the World's.

But just how does someone go about earning the CFL's version of that title?

"Um," Curran said, chuckling while searching for some semblance of an answer. "I mean, basically I guess I'm well-rounded. I do a lot of different things besides just football. There's a lot to me as far as my culture, my background, my family being from Liberia.

"My musical background, playing the piano, drums, viola. I speak (publicly), I do a lot of different things."

But once again, the spotlight is shining on football as he fills in for Sherritt, who is out for as much as four more weeks recovering from surgery to repair a broken thumb.

And so far, Curran's received a big thumb's up from head coach Kavis Reed.

"There was a drop-off, there is no question, with J.C. Sherritt being the guy he was replacing," Reed said. "But we expect that Rennie will continue to get better and his performance will not be to our detriment."

Prior to last Sunday's game, Curran got into some earlier spot-duty over the season, which Reed said has sped up his development.

"The speed of the game is just something that you've got to go through as a player," Reed said. "His efforts last week were pretty good.

"Obviously he wasn't perfect, but I believe that his performance was good enough to allow us to win."